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Web radio (or Internet radio) is a radio re-broadcasting service one can receive via the Internet. Because the radio signal is relayed over the Internet through the World Wide Web, it is possible to access the stations from anywhere in the world—for example, to listen to an Australian radio station from Europe or America. This makes it a popular service for expatriates and for people who have 'niche' interests that may not be adequately catered for by their local radio stations (e.g., country music). Some of the web radio services available via the Internet offer news, sports, talkback, and various genres of music—everything that is on the radio station being re-broadcast.
Web radio technology
Not every web "radio station" has a corresponding traditional radio station. Many web radio stations are completely independent from traditional ("terrestrial") radio stations and broadcast only on the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting.
One of the most common ways to distribute web radio is via streaming MP3 technology, which uses the well-known MP3 music format. The bits are "streamed" over a TCP/IP connection, then reassembled and played within about 2 seconds. Therefore, streaming MP3 radio has about a 2 second lag time.
There are three major components to an MP3 stream:
- audio stream source
- audio stream repeater (server)
- audio stream playback
There are many methods for creating the audio stream source. One of the easiest and most popular ways to compose this stream is by using the Live365 web service, which allows Internet users with very little technological know-how to begin webcasting legal audio streams in MP3 and mp3PRO formats within minutes. Those more technologically savvy may opt for the SHOUTcast service, which utilizes Winamp and the SHOUTcast DSP plugin to deliver MP3 audio at higher bitrates. Other methods include open source technologies such as Streamcast, stream-db, and IceS. Using open source stream source tools allows for interesting web interface possibilities like phpStreamcast.
Two of the most popular Web radio networks are Live365 and SHOUTcast. Open source alternatives include Icecast and Xiph.org, which include Ogg Vorbis streamings (that can be played by Winamp and Zinf). Collectively, these Web radio servers list thousands of Internet radio stations covering an ever-expanding variety of genres.
The purpose of the server is to repeat the stream source to the audio playback software.
Some sort of audio playback software, that is capable of reading HTTP data streams, is needed to listen to streaming MP3 audio. Some popular MP3 players are Winamp for Windows, iTunes for Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, and XMMS on UNIX/Linux.
There are also a small number of web radio programs that allow users to rate the songs they are listening to. This allows a user's music listening choices to be correlated against those of others, as with the programs iRATE radio, Last.fm and Radio Paradise.
History
The first Internet "radio station", Internet Talk Radio, was developed by Carl Malumud in 1993. Malumud's station used a technology called MBONE (IP Multicast Backbone on the Internet). In February, 1995, the first full-time, Internet-only radio station, Radio HK, began broadcasting the music of independent bands. Radio HK was created by Norman Hajjar and the Hajjar/Kaufman New Media Lab, an advertising agency in Marina del Rey, California. Hajjar's method was to use a CU-SeeMe web conferencing reflector connected to a custom created audio CD in endless loop. Later, Radio HK converted to one of the original RealAudio servers. Today, Internet radio stations such as VoyagerRadio utilize the technologies of web services like Live365 to webcast 24 hours a day.
In 1999 a company called MyCaster released a tool that allowed anyone to Netcast in 10 minutes. The MyCaster tool was cleverly simple. It was basically a software MP3 player, similar to Winamp, that as the user listened to music it simultaneously sent a stream to the MyCaster Website. MyCaster then amplified the stream and listed it on its site for listeners to access. The free service allowed even people with little technical skill to easily go live with their own Internet radio station. Like many early Internet radio endeavors, MyCaster succumbed to the dot com bust in 2001.
See also
External links
Open source technology
- Dynebolic GNU/Linux live CD ready for radio streaming
- MuSE audio mixing and streaming source software
- Streamcast (http://streamcast.sourceforge.net)
- Stream-db (http://stream-db.sourceforge.net)
- phpStreamcast (http://www.adfinis.com/projects/phpstreamcast)
- Icecast (http://www.icecast.org)
- Xiph.org (http://dir.xiph.org)
- iRate (http://irate.sourceforge.net/) a web radio that chooses the next song based in your previous ratings for other songs
- Broadcaster (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/broadcaster/) for Macs
- Freecast (http://www.freecast.org) Java application which allows peer-to-peer stream broadcast. Make possible a stream broadcast to a large number of listeners from a simple DSL connection
- Radio Bangkok - Live from Thailand (http://www.radiobangkok.net)
Free (in the sense of Libre) Speech Radios
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